Wreck of the Week

Stuff happens and life gets in the way of our renovation dream plans. I know that.  But maybe we're dealing with a bit more stuff nowadays, because I do seem to be seeing an awful lot of part finished do-ups coming onto the market. Like these two handsome but abandoned Welsh chapel projects. Capel Tygwdd is in Ceredigion - a beautiful bit of west Wales I know well. Close to the villages of Cwm Cou and Cenarth , and around five miles from the market town of Newcastle Emlyn. The property consists of the chapel, the adjacent Sunday School, and around an acre of garden land, surrounded by gorgeous rural views. The big stuff seems to have been done on the main building, the church, with a new (slate) roof, concrete floors and refurbished windows. A big hole in one side is poised for windows onto the views, and the Sunday school is waiting to be turned into the two-bedroom cottage in the (approved) plans. The property also has permission for a garage and workshop...

Couple of handsome properties coming up for auction to show you this week. Starting with this Welsh beauty. The four-bedroom cottage is in the tiny hamlet of Blaenffos, next to Boncath and about eight miles from Newcastle Emlyn and a similar distance from St Dogmaels. The house sits on the A478, which runs through the village, but behind it is an acre of land and privacy. That acre of land prompted planning applications in 2007 and 2008 - approved by Pembrokeshire Council - to build six small "starter" homes on the site (08/0168/PA and 07/0518/PA). By rights, those plans should have lapsed by now but I couldn't see any notification of that. Maybe the developer had dug a couple of holes or something. Notwithstanding that rural Wales could probably do with more affordable starter homes rather than another likely holiday home renovation, this is a very attractive property in a bit of Wales I love : ) There is little in the way of detail on the agen...